Snow Removal

Snow Removal

Since the township is responsible for snow removal on residential streets, the Services Department is prepared throughout the winter months for any snow conditions. During a typical winter season, the department uses 1,500 tons of salt.

For snow removal, the township is divided into four areas: Northridge, Upper Shiloh, Lower Shiloh and Fort McKinley. Each area is assigned a crew and a truck. Supplementing these resources is a fleet of four 4-wheel-drive pick-up trucks equipped with snowplows.

If you’re shoveling your driveway…

Please wait until township crews have cleared your street before you begin, or you may have to shovel the driveway apron a second time. When you do shovel, pile the snow to the right side as you approach the street. This may reduce the amount of snow that gets pushed on to your driveway apron when our trucks come through and try to get the snow adequately off the street and clear of drainage facilities.

Q. Why is my road one of the last roads to be cleared of ice and snow?

A. The Township clears approximately 91 miles of roadway during a snow/ice event. We start by clearing priority roads (heavily traveled roads, hills and school zones) then start on all secondary roads implementing a predetermined pattern to maximize efficiency.

A. The snow plow truck must clear the roadway. The snow plow by design moves the snow from the roadway to the right side of the roadway leaving the snow in front of the driveways and along the properties. In a heavy snow (3 or more inches) our snow plow trucks will make two passes, we recommend if possible you wait to clear your driveway until after those passes have been made. If you cannot wait to clear your driveway, we recommend that you place the snow from your driveway apron on the right side as you approach the street, this will decrease the volume of snow placed back into your driveway apron by the snow plow truck.

Q. Why does the snow plow truck plow into my Cul-De-Sac and leave without plowing all of it?

A. It would be time consuming for our large salt/plow truck to plow all of the Cul-De-Sac’s in the Township. We have smaller pick-up trucks with snow plows that clear the snow more efficiently and in some cases will arrive before the salt/plow truck.

Q. How long does it take to clear all the roads start to finish in a snow/ice event?

A. In a typical snow event requiring salt only (2 inches of snow or less) it takes approximately 4 hours to clear all of our roadways in Harrison Township. In a heavy snow event (3 inches of snow or more) it will take a minimum of 8 hours to clear the roadways. These times could change based on extreme conditions such as heavy ice and high winds.